Passing the buck. Who should be tackling the growing problem of deer/vehicle collisions? @deerinitiative @RAC_Breakdown

It was while sat on a train heading back to Deer Initiative headquarters that I was made aware of a deer vehicle collision involving two teenage girls. The tragedy happened on the A10 between Puckeridge and Ware, Hertfordshire. Their Citroen C1 struck the wild animal and then collided with a Volvo V40 before bursting into flames. Unfortunately the two teenage girls lost their lives and the male driver of the Volvo was injured.

Sadly this incident – though particularly severe – is far from unique. Between 42,000 and 74,000 vehicles are involved in collisions with deer on the road every year.

Photo: Jochen Langbein

The significant cost in human, animal and economic terms means we should be taking this issue seriously. You might expect that Government , the insurance industry or drivers’ organisations would be funding work to look into reducing the carnage but sadly since wild deer belong to nobody it is easy to deny responsibility. We know the scale of the problem, we even know the most likely sections of road for accidents to occur but how do we best get the message to politicians, officials, drivers and the insurance industry that we should be doing something about this issue?

Studies have suggested that deer related accidents do £17m worth of damage each year with 425-700 deer vehicle collisions resulting in personal injuries in the UK annually. Fifteen to twenty of these will result in fatalities. (For further information please look at the publication section of the Deer Aware website.) Of course those at risk on the roads from deer collisions are not just drivers. In August this year a grandfather died on the B6265, near Ripon after a deer ran out in front of him as he was riding his motorcycle. As the deer population in the UK expands it is expected that deer vehicle collisions will continue to increase.

Photo: The Deer Initiative

Much has been made in newspaper articles about the size of the deer population in the UK being bigger than at any time since the last ice age. Opinions on what this means vary: some see it as a massive win for conservation especially for our native species Red and Roe deer; others see the animals as an ever increasing burden on SSSIs; whilst a number of people believe there is a real problem with non-native species such as Muntjac and Sika. Whatever the twist placed on the particular story the safety messages we wish to be passed on are often buried. So with this in mind here are the key messages we would like to put across to you:

1. Be watchful- especially during peak months (May, October and November) and in areas with large deer population. The sighting of one deer is usually an indicator that there is a larger number in the locality.

2. It is more important to be in control of your vehicle than it is to avoid the deer – swerving can sometimes lead to worse damage than hitting the deer.

3. If you do hit a deer, report it – the reporting of Deer Vehicle Collisions at www.deeraware.com will provide data which can be used to generate reports.